ICE Trust Europe to Clear European Credit Default Swaps

The IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) announced that its London-based clearing house ICE Clear Europe will launch a new service, called ICE Trust Europe.

ICE Trust Europe will act as a European-regulated central-counterparty clearing house for European credit default swap transactions.

ICE Trust Europe will operate with a segregated risk pool and dedicated risk management systems for the European credit derivatives market. Subject to regulatory approval, ICE Trust Europe is expected to be operational in the first half of 2009.

"We will continue to work with European regulators and the CDS community to construct central clearing and margining systems for this global and vital marketplace," said Paul Swann, President and COO of ICE Clear Europe in a statement.

He added, "Our aim is to improve the soundness and transparency of the CDS markets, regardless of physical or political borders. We will continue to leverage our domain knowledge in both CDS and clearing as we work with regulators and industry participants to develop a comprehensive European solution." ICE C